Larisa Flint Snydal - Offhand Designs

"I am dedicated to creating products that showcase the rich, luscious textiles of the world."

- Larisa Flint Snydal

Larisa set out to provide the bold and self-assured woman with high-quality alternatives to leather and now finds inspiration in both textiles and luxury leathers. Vowing to offer only products that she would die to own herself, Larisa creates her limited edition handbags, baby bags and knitting bags from a hand-picked treasure trove of brocades, velvets and chenilles.

Her background is as diverse as her handbag designs. Through more than a decade of living and traveling in foreign lands, her passions for the arts, crafts, textiles, architecture and nature have given her a highly individualistic style and sharpened her eye for design. Did we mention that her Master's thesis was entitled "Fashion in the Brezhnev Era: Unzipping the USSR."

Larisa has a great talent for making something amazing out of materials no one has any use for and seeing potential where no one else sees it. Friends and family have often teased Larisa, calling her an "idea hamster" because she never stops designing, or seeing inspirations in the shapes and textures of everyday things. The cracks in a sidewalk or the grounds in her coffee cup can inspire entire lines of handbags!

Larisa also finds inspiration for some of her designs from the textiles themselves. Random finds in her ongoing search for interesting materials may kickstart the whole design process in directions that no one, not even she, could predict. The name Offhand Designs reflects this element of spontaneity. The name also represents her dedication to this openness in her creative process. She believes in designing whatever strikes her, however she envisions it, whether it is a handbag, coat or slippers.